My journey today from Beaumont, California to Goodyear, Arizona was notable principally for its scenic vistas. The snowcapped mountains were simply beautiful reminders of the grandeur of nature. Also, rounding a turn I was amazed and began to laugh when I saw what appeared to be a thousand sleek, white windmills dotting the landscape. For as far as I could see, these modern windmill/energy generators appeared to me as some kind of windmill farm. The contrast between the mountains and windmills seemed, at first, incongruous to me. However, as I thought more about it, I began to see a certain kind of beauty in the idea of the natural mountains in a kind of harmonious relationship with these quiet energy generators. Having passed any number of oil wells and smoke-belching plants along Route 66, the idea of wind energy has great appeal. It is my hope that wind and solar energy may find greater purchase in our environmental landscape.

--Larry Spears [Friday, Jan. 22, 2010]